"Taofu, what's going on? How could the newspaper say that you have agreed to the long-haired negotiation? Why didn't I know about this at all before?"

"Zhou Futai, is what the newspaper said true or false? Why don't our Shanghai Chamber of Commerce know about such an important matter in advance?"

"Mr. Futai, you have to give an explanation to our Associate Defense Bureau! In order to help you guard Shanghai, the gentry and directors of our Associate Defense Bureau have paid so much food and silver. You have to negotiate with Changmao? What are you going to talk about? How do you talk? Are you going to give Shanghai to Changmao?!"

Thanks to Mr. Wu’s boss, Yang Fang, president of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, also personally came forward to help the Shanghai Wu army try to bribe Tan Shaoguang’s troops in Suzhou Taiping Army. They were somewhat mentally prepared and relatively calm. Otherwise, Zhou Tenghu would have been torn on the spot!

However, even so, Gu Wenbin, the representative of Jiangnan landlord who had known the least insider before, was so anxious that he grabbed Zhou Tenghu's sleeve and kept yelling, forcing Zhou Tenghu to explain to himself and the Jiangnan landlord group behind him. Zhou Tenghu had no choice but to yell: "Quiet! The newspaper is talking nonsense, and I didn't agree to negotiate with Changmao!"

"Is it the newspaper that is talking nonsense?"

Gu Wenbin turned angry and was about to question Zhou Tenghu carefully. Unexpectedly, the veteran Wu army generals Deng Siyuan and Meng Huo rushed to the lobby and asked Zhou Tenghu with a newspaper: "Master, what's going on in this newspaper? Why did he say we were going to negotiate with Changmao? Our brothers have been affected by the morale of the army when they heard about this matter!"

"That's nonsense!" Zhou Tenghu roared and replied.

"Not nonsense!"

Jin Anqing's voice came from outside the hall. In a hurry, Jin Anqing said loudly: "Taofu, you can't hide it anymore at this time. You can only tell President Yang and General Deng to let them know the inside story. Otherwise, if Changmao shook your letter, President Yang and Director Gu would only misunderstand even more, and our soldiers' morale would only be more affected!"

Of course, Jin Anqing's words caused a huge uproar in the hall. When Gu Wenbin, Deng Siyuan and others were shocked, Zhou Tenghu suddenly woke up and suddenly realized that the letters he had contacted the Taiping Army several times before were not only filled with hope and negotiations, but none of them had been brought back by the envoy!

"I almost fell into a trap again." While sweating in a cold sweat, Zhou Tenghu did not hesitate and immediately said: "Everyone, I didn't say clearly just now. What I said in the newspaper today is not entirely nonsense. I did have contact with Changmao, but I did this to buy time..."

It took quite a lot of time for Zhou Tenghu to finish the secret contact with the Taiping Army and carefully talk to everyone, and also clearly told everyone that the Wu army in Shanghai would never bow to the Taiping Army and make even one and a half inches of concessions. As a result, Deng Siyuan and Meng Huo and other Wu generals were fine, and immediately expressed their understanding and understanding of Zhou Tenghu's difficulties. Gu Wenbin and Yang Fang breathed a sigh of relief first, and then complained together: "Zhou Futai, then you have told us in advance, scared us so much that you thought you really planned to talk to Changmao."

"The two gentlemen, Dong, have forgiven their sins. In order to avoid leaking the news and not to shake people's hearts, they have concealed it." Zhou Tenghu explained: "Once the news is leaking, not only will Changmao definitely not be deceived again, but the rumors may also become more and more evil, and become rumors that we beg to surrender to Changmao for the sake of life, which will affect the stability of the morale of the army and the people."

After explaining carefully to Gu Wenbin and Yang Fang, Zhou Tenghu himself gradually woke up and began to understand where he made a mistake. He only cared about the importance of stability in people's hearts. At the same time, Zhou Tenghu was more alert and said to himself: "Is this arranged by Li Xiucheng? If so, then this big hair would be too terrible."

At this time, Jin Anqing also got the opportunity to ask Zhou Tenghu a key question, saying: "Taofu, what's going on with the Shanghai New News? It's like deliberately helping grow hair to hit our people's morale?"

"I don't know either." Zhou Tenghu shook his head, but his eyes looked at the comprador Wu next to him, and asked tentatively: "Mr. Wu, do you know some inside information about this?"

"How could I know?" Wu's comprador asked back angrily, and said, "But it doesn't matter. It should be found out that Hua Meide, the editor-in-chief of Shanghai Xinbao, knows me. She is a priest from the United States. She has received the favor of your King of Zhennan during his mission. You can go directly to him to ask about the situation."

"Missionary?!" Zhou Tenghu and Jin Anqing looked at each other in surprise, and remembered the priest Aesai who volunteered to act as a contact for the Taiping Army. They also vaguely guessed the reason why the Shanghai New Newspaper published this headline today...

After spending a lot of thought and time to investigate, the truth finally surfaced and was guessed by Zhou Tenghu. His position has always been more inclined to the fact that the Shanghai New Newspaper, which published such news, was indeed closely related to the missionary editor-in-chief Hua Meide.

However, Huameide was not a malice out of intentional shaking the morale of the Shanghai people. Ai Joseph, who brought his own dry food to the Taiping Army, took the initiative to find Huameide and told Huameide about the fact that the old comprador of Wu had accepted Li Xiucheng's request for negotiation letters, and asked Huameide to announce the matter in the newspaper. Huameide was for the sales of the newspaper, the second was to hope to resolve the Shanghai issue peacefully, and the third was to have no political mind, and as soon as the head was infiltrated, it agreed to Ai Joseph's request, which led to what happened later.

In the evening of that day, Joseph Ai and Yang Duxin were also found by the comprador of the old Wu Lao's comprador. Both foreign priests admitted that they had done so by Li Xiucheng's entrusted, but they also denied that they had any malice. They insisted that they did this to avoid war, appease the hearts of the Shanghai people, and help promote a peaceful solution to the Shanghai issue. They even insisted that they were bribed by the Taiping Army and acted as spies for the Taiping Army.

It doesn't matter whether Joseph Ai and Yang Duxin have any malice. Anyway, Zhou Tenghu is willing to eat them raw, because even with the comprador Wu and Yang Fang, Gu Wenbin helped to appease and explain, and secretly told the truth. Zhou Tenghu was still entangled by the landlords and wealthy businessmen who paid money and grain to support the Wu army in Shanghai, and was in a mess. He had to explain and defend himself again and again, and wasted a lot of energy and time.

At the same time, the news fermented and changed its flavor, and various rumors were inevitable. There were rumors that the Wu army in Shanghai had lost confidence in defending Shanghai. Some people said that the Wu army in Shanghai had been prepared to escape from the sea after the war was unfavorable. Some people simply insisted that Zhou Tenghu had secretly negotiated with the Taiping Army, intending to sell Shanghai for his own wealth, life and wealth! It caused panic and panic among the military and civilians. The noise of whether the Wu army soldiers could keep Shanghai up, and the Shanghai Assistant Defense Bureau, which has been preparing military funds and supplies for the Wu army, has also begun to appear.

There are also things that made Zhou Tenghu depressed and worried. When it was dark, he finally got some free time. The comprador Wu's comprador quietly told Zhou Tenghu that the British Consul Mai Huatuo negotiated with him yesterday, and asked in person with the French Consul Aishang why the Shanghai Wu army had secret contact with the Taiping Army, and directly asked whether the Shanghai Wu army had plans to negotiate with the Taiping Army. As a result, the comprador Wu did not dare to give a positive answer, but said that he would discuss with Zhou Tenghu before replying to the British and French consuls.

"Mr. Wu, do you still need to discuss this with the younger generation?" Zhou Tenghu, who was almost exhausted, said in a weak voice and asked very depressedly: "Is it enough to just tell them the truth?"

"Are you afraid that they will leak the news?" Wu's comprador replied even more depressed, saying, "It's okay for the consul of the foreign devils to say, but it's barely reliable. None of the translators around them were jealous of money, and they could betray us for a few taels of silver at any time. At that time, Changmao knew that we were just trying to get time to negotiate, but it was okay if we didn't get fooled anymore. If someone came to make a plan and took the opportunity to make a trap for us, then we would be in trouble."

Knowing that the old comprador Wu's concerns were also for the good of the army, Zhou Tenghu could only shake his head and shut up. After calculating tiredly for a while, Zhou Tenghu made up his mind and said, "You can no longer use the negotiation to delay the military strategy. The situation in Shanghai is too complicated. As long as our attitude is a little ambiguous, the city will be full of wind and rain, and China and foreign countries will be shaken!"

"Only open and honest!" Zhou Tenghu raised some voices and said viciously: "Understanding the announcement, letting the military, civilians and overseas foreigners in Shanghai know our determination to fight to the end with Changmao, and break the road to negotiations with Changmao, so as to stabilize the hearts of the people and stabilize the situation in Shanghai!"

"Tafu, it's probably too late to do this now, right?" Jin Anqing next to him said in a tired tone: "The news that we plan to negotiate with Changmao has leaked out, and it has caused a lot of trouble. If you issue an announcement at this time, the gentry and people in Shanghai will not believe it easily."

"Although it's a little late to fix the sheep, it's better than losing the sheep pen than losing the sheep." Zhou Tenghu said: "First publish the announcement, and then fight a few tough battles with Changmao on the battlefield, and people's hearts will come back."

Jin Anqing nodded tiredly and immediately drafted the foreign advertisement of the Wu army in Shanghai according to Zhou Tenghu's request so that it would be published publicly the next morning. The comprador of Wu also said: "Tafu, why don't I go to the concession overnight and talk to the foreigners and consuls carefully, and clearly stated that we should fight Changmao to the end and give them a reassurance so that Changmao would take advantage of the loopholes and pull the foreigners to their side."

"It's late, the door of the consulate has been closed. Mr. Wu, you should go back to the house first and go tomorrow morning. You are old..., huh, what's the sound?"
Chapter completed!